A summary of Biden’s views on immigration

In his February 7 State of the Union address, Biden mentioned in passing his immigration bill.

In early 2021, Biden released a proposal for comprehensive reform, U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, which was summarized by the NY Times” “It would allow virtually all undocumented immigrants to eventually apply for citizenship; increase legal immigration; add measures to secure ports of entry and speed processing of asylum seekers; and invest $4 billion in the economies of Central American countries to reduce migration.” Go here for a text of the bill. The White House’s summary of the bill is here.

I wrote about the bill here:  The highlight of the bill is legalization of substantially all unauthorized persons in the country as of 1/1/21. It does not appear to significantly alter the design of the country’s visa system except for normalization, through temporary legal status, of the state of unauthorized persons. It does not create a workforce assessment function; Washington will remain without a capacity to assess how present and future immigration will impact the economy. The bill requires that “DHS and the Department of Labor establish a commission involving labor, employer, and civil rights organizations to make recommendations for improving the employment verification process.”

Here is a summary of how several bills submitted in 2021 would affect the legal states of unauthorized persons.  Here is a summary of Biden’s actions on immigration, including a goal to increase the number of Green Cards above the pre-Trump prevailing level of one million.

 

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